Hi. We are a design/style LA based company specializing in mixing eclectic styles on moderate budgets. Also we have a strange amount of fun blogging about all our design and style adventures. Right now I’m happy to say that I’m Target’s home spokesperson, bringing accessible/stylish design to the masses.

The Long Awaited Reveal...

Portland Project: The Living Room Reveal

Hold on to your birds, folks, because it’s REVEAL TIME for the Portland project. The house is finally styled and shot, and today we have the pleasure of revealing to you one of my favorite rooms in the house: the living room. (P.S. If you want a sneak peek of the entire house head to House Beautiful) Settle in, because this post is a doozy and dives into how in five weeks, we worked with our favorite brands and shopped to furnish, style and shoot this 5k-square-foot home in another state. Looking at this house, being in this home, we feel such personal satisfaction, career fulfillment and a heck-load of pride. Pulling this off from LA wasn’t easy, but my team, led by myself and Brady, worked so hard (like indescribably hard) to really make this our dream house.

When you walk into the house, the living room is immediately to your left, and, in our humble opinion, it’s pretty darn lovely. Like Portland, Oregon itself, it greets you in a calm but very inviting and cool way. The light is beautiful, it flows so well from the entry and into the dining room and the original sunken floorplan is so charming. Let’s revisit what this room looked like when my brother and sister-in-law purchased this house.

Of all the rooms in the house, this one had the most charm because of the built-ins. I wasn’t really involved with the project until after demo, but my first instinct was why get rid of those when they are one of the few things in the house we like? But it was the right choice and opening it up to what was the master bedroom (so weird) and is now the dining room makes the house flow so well.

As a reminder, here is the layout of this floor:

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The major things that needed to happen here were to get rid of the built-ins, replace the cheap windows, update the fireplace and flooring. This room was not really a challenge, honestly, all we had to do was change the finishes, add some better sconce lighting and decorate this lady.

Brady jumped on the design of it and when I say “jumped,” I mean shoved into it a pit of anxiety and excitement as we were about five weeks out from the open house and hadn’t even looked at ONE PIECE OF FURNITURE. We were so slammed finalizing finishes (tile, flooring, staircase design, paint colors) and frankly, I knew that furniture and decor are easier for us (especially with no client) so I kept putting it off.

Also, please remember that last year, Brady was both in charge of the daily publishing of the blog as well all of the design shoots and sponsored content, so the second that Arlyn came on board as the Editorial Director, Brady became free to help execute the decor stage of this project (which is what he wanted to be doing—and did such a good job). THANK GOD FOR BOTH OF THEM. So with just over a month until our deadline, he started pulling together furniture, lighting, and accessories…you know…the decoration of an ENTIRE HOUSE.

The process of designing this house is unique, for sure. Since there was no real client, we had a lot of creative freedom, but there was also no real budget and all the labor, materials, decor and, of course, time of my team would be supported by my company and was basically whatever I was willing to put into it. Since this was a portfolio and press project, I was willing to put into it whatever it would take to look STUNNING (within reason), which meant a combination of major retailers, high-end brands and vintage/thrift. In case you are wondering how much furnishing a higher end 5k-square-foot house would cost, I’d say—off the top of my head—around $200k without design or install time included (that’s just in furniture and decor). Now, while my company is doing well, thanks to my amazing team, no, we didn’t have $200k to purchase, stage and risk in this house. So we leveraged our content producing and publishing skills to work with brands to alleviate some of the upfront dollars needed.

First, we started reaching out to Portland brands to support the local economy (Rejuvenation, Schoolhouse, Mantel, Decorview, The Good Mod, Aurora Mills, City Home) and opened up the idea of borrowing pieces in exchange for press/tagging/linking/and—the most coveted of all—photo usage. At this point, we have established ourselves as a site that designs, styles and shoots high-quality content so most brands, if not all, were very excited for not only the linking and product placement in the blog and on social media but knowing that they will get to use the photography for their purposes (all but advertisement). Our choices were limited to current inventory and lead times so as we were working with Portland stores and artisans, we also reached out to our favorite retailers—Target, Annie Selke, Room & Board, Article, Interior Define, Lulu & Georgia, Six Penny, Structube, Chairish and Thos. Moser (amongst others). Now, figuring out what was available, what could get to Portland in time, what was going to be available when the posts were published let alone what was perfect stylistically and in-scale was intense. You can’t just use a sofa that is in stock if it physically doesn’t fit the space or work with everything else that was planned.

Brady tried to be methodical and intentional about it. It’s not like we wanted three different sets of eight dining chairs, but at a certain point, we also needed backups of most things because when trying to furnish a home as large as this one in a week (four weeks of prep, one week actually on site), you need options and a lot of them.

The back and forth and negotiations were unbelievably time consuming but ultimately worth it to be able to borrow enough amazing pieces to showcase this project in the way it deserved. Brady did such a great job of juggling all the inventory and ensuring that we had enough to play with, knowing that we would fill in once we got to Portland and all the while reminding ourselves that we had to be flexible with the design and styling. It does not matter how seasoned you are, if you want to create an interesting looking home, full of style and personality, you have to be in the space, experiencing it, playing with the pieces. Creating a digital product board is nice, but it will never be perfect. It’s like a dating app profile—if everything looks perfect on paper, that likely means they aren’t that interesting or maybe they are psychopaths, which I suppose technically is interesting but not what you or we are really after in life.

So Brady started playing from LA and this was his first go at the living room design.

He kept working at it, adjusting and changing the mood boards and design as the inventory changed. This happened four to five times based on what we were able to lock in quickly and from brands that we could get it there in time. Keep in mind this is only a few antique or vintage items which we knew we wanted to include. His goal was to TRY to get the major pieces locked down (rugs, sofas, dining table/chairs, master bed) but when it came to side tables, lighting and even lounge chairs, we had a ton of options to ensure each room looked curated and custom, mixed and collected and perfectly imperfect. We wanted this living room to feel young, but classic and with a Portland vibe (which means unpretentious and welcoming).

Once Brady was up there, he realized that the fabric of the initial sofa and the blue in the rug would clash with the roman shades and it didn’t look quite right in the space. So he played again on site with the design based on what we could get quickly and locally:

It’s important to know where you are headed, sure, but also know that some pieces will work better with others that you might not have predicted. As the inventory started arriving, the house FILLED with beautiful furniture for us to play with and things adjusted once again. We knew EXACTLY where some things were going to go, others we just knew that they were awesome and that we’d find a place for them.

We also knew that the artwork and the local vintage and maker boutiques were going to be a game changer and boy were they ever. A room full of all-new pieces without unique art and accessories can easily feel soulless, but once we accessorized with the local artists and antiques, this room SUNG.

But not without some VERY late nights. As you can see here, the process from mood board to styled photo is messy, labor-intensive, and yes, EXTREMELY FUN.

We were also doing every single other room at the same time, so it’s not like we could just set the living room and walk away. If another piece wasn’t working in a different room, we would have to steal from this room and replace the item. We clocked over 20k steps every single day on Emily B’s FitBit, rearranging the entire house over and over in a matter of days, and that doesn’t even take into account lifting furniture. It was musical chairs in all sense of the word and we were dancing along, deliriously. Also, we’re now all incredibly ripped and buff.

We did it, and it’s time to finally show you what she looks like. You may have peeked at the real estate photos, but what you’ll see here is our fully styled out images. We’ll walk you through almost all major pieces, with a Get the Look of EVERYTHING at the end.

So…you ready?? Let’s get it!

I could stare at these photos all day long. I just love it so very, very much. Let’s start with the hard fixtures—the windows, lighting and fireplace.

Previously, the windows consisted of a bay window and two doors that went to nowhere. Literally a drop-off. The bay window had those fake grids in between the glass which is an invention to make windows easier to wash and a style to make the look of “grids” more affordable. It’s my personal opinion that if grids on the outside of the windows aren’t in your budget, just skip them altogether when replacing windows. We are doing a whole post on the windows in this house from Milgard, so more to come, but for this room, we opted to keep the bay and just replace the windows (we loved its charm), while swapping the doors with two stationary windows.

But there was a hiccup. The windows you see above, the ones that start at the floor, were originally doors like I said and the initial design of the house was to keep them as doors but add a little Juliet balcony. But then we thought do we need juliet balconies?Is this where we should be putting the budget? So we nixed them, but the framing of the “door” didn’t change. Being in LA, this is not something that I caught until the windows were installed and my first thought (without the Romans) was gah, we need to reframe those higher. But every other person in the world thought it looked cool; they LOVED that there was no baseboard even under the window, and now I want to do this in every house. I LOVE it and it ended up being such a happy accident. I think it adds some tension and weirdness which is what can take a room from basic and “new-build” to interesting and custom.

We reached out to Decorview to partner on window treatments in the entire house, which I am SO GRATEFUL FOR. Not only is their product so great, but the customer service is wonderful because they come with expertise and suggestions for each window based on needs and styles. We addressed whether we needed light control or privacy, or neither or both for each room. For this space, we chose to just do Romans over the windows and nothing in the bay (we could have but didn’t really NEED it as it’s on a private driveway and we figured if the new owners wanted to, they could work with Decorview to add treatments there). We love the look of the bay without any treatments, but if we were to do it, we would have done three Romans.

Let’s chat lighting. For this house, we wanted the lighting to feel “Modern Classic.”

What does that mean? It means that the lines are more traditional, with less decorative detail than in the past and in an updated finish.

These sconces (and most of the lighting throughout the house) reference a traditional style home, but in a way that feels more “now.” I love a sconce. Did you know that many architects secretly don’t like sconces? They don’t want to see a lighting source, but I do, especially in an older house. I love the option of not using overhead and not necessarily needing a ton of ambient lamplight, to instead use shaded wall sconces. A double wall sconce feels purposeful, and high end in a traditional way, but that modern swoop and the black finish really take it to the next level.

We chose four of these and placed them at eye level, almost like art, centered between window and wall. A single sconce could have gone closer, but the double needs room to breathe. Most people were nervous about this, but not me because I have very similar sconces in my house and I LOVE the location. The placement gives it importance and says “I’m not just a source of comfortable light, I am an integral part of the architecture, and I give off a sense that the people who live here care.”

Yes. A well-placed sconce does just that.

Now for furniture and decor. Brady was involved, but I personally pretended it was for me, if I didn’t have kids (if I could splurge without fear). We did a lot of sourcing locally to find some of these special pieces to mix in with what Brady had already locked in and had up there for us.

We worked with Dash & Albert on almost all the rugs in the house, this one is no exception. I used to have this (we sold it in the sale of the Glendale house) and I LOVE IT. Their wool rugs are honestly so soft, durable, stain resistant (because they are wool, not because they are magic) and so worth it.

The leather sofa is from Schoolhouse and is one of my favorites especially if you need a petite size. I told them that I am desperate for them to make one that is one foot longer and they said they have had that request before. The scale of the back and arms are GREAT, and the seat is deep and comfy and it really does look like it belongs in an old den or library. It really should have been about a foot longer for this room’s set up, but it’s hard to tell in the photos.

Now for what you really want to talk about—those stunning chairs. I’ll go ahead and refer to them as the world’s most beautiful chairs. These are handmade in Oregon, sold in Portland at The Good Mod and I don’t think I need to sell you on these, visually, they do that themselves. Designed by Justin Nelson and made by hand by Fernweh Woodworking, they are unbelievably beautiful and true works of art. The walnut and black leather perfectly balanced out that sofa. They add this sculptural element in the room that makes it impossibly cool.

They are also pretty comfortable (I reserve the word “very” for big upholstered chairs), ergonomic and wear really well. The leather just gets more and more beautiful.

Laying out this room was tricky because we didn’t want huge chunky chairs in front of the stairs to the dining room, both visually and physically. So having these chairs that are light and don’t stop your eye was our solution. We didn’t have these on our original plan, but instead found in person out shopping via The Good Mod (which is a FANTASTIC store that I can’t recommend more). We also borrowed that amazing hand carved side table by Aleph Geddis from them. Brady and I had SO much fun shopping together locally and adapting the design to really make it something that was unique and special for this house.

To be able to feature local artists and stores makes me VERY happy and if you have the budget for the most beautiful chairs (amongst other things), please look up and follow Justin Nelson, Fernweh Woodworking (chair designer/makers) and Aleph Geddis (wood stool designer/carver).

Now onto the coffee table. This is one of probably 20 pieces that we borrowed from one of my favorite makers in America since I was like 25, Thos. Moser. If you haven’t heard that name before, it’s probably because they aren’t flashy or blasting their logo all over the place. They’ve been making honest, quality (not to mention STUNNING) wood furniture for over 45 years. This coffee table is certainly simple but the detailing and craftsmanship is there and saying it’s timeless is an understatement. Heirloom style furniture is still around, folks, and if it’s in your budget, it’s worth the splurge. They have been generous enough to also extend a discount to all of our readers:EMILY18 which you can use to purchase anything on their site. Now that I’ve experienced so much of their furniture in person, I’ll be investing in some pieces (maybe after the kids stop drawing on furniture).

The side table is also from Thos. Moser and again, has very simple but impactful detailing on the tops and the legs. Check out their site and if/when you are ready for an heirloom piece of furniture made in the US by highly skilled artisans, then I can’t recommend them enough.

That chair, above, is coming home with me. It’s vintage, from The Good Mod and unless the new owners offer me more for it, I’m buying it. It’s that perfect sculpture that you put against a white wall with a tiny tall tree cutting in a beautiful black vessel.

On the other side of the room, we have a vintage secretary (also from The Good Mod, but sadly not available online to link to) that snuck perfectly in that little nook.

Speaking of original and unique art, this house is dripping with it and almost all from Portland. See the Get the Look below for all the sources and if you are interested in buying some of them (assuming that the new owner doesn’t need all of them) you’ll have to fight us for them.

Original art that we love isn’t something that we find often, so when we do yes, we hoard.

The following grid is one that I don’t think I can let go of. It is by Addie Juell, a photographer in New York.

Addie and I assisted together in our 20s. She was an aspiring photographer and I a stylist. Cut to 15 years later and she is EXTREMELY in-demand because of how talented she is. So when I saw her paintings on her Instagram (after I saw them in a store in LA, Avion Clothier), I reached out to see if we could borrow some for this house. We framed them by floating them in Framebridge frames, in light wood as she suggested.

The grid of nine are all quiet and different, and as a collection, they are so powerful. I can’t let these go. They are too beautiful and how Framebridge floated them was so perfect. I feel like a quiet grid like this could go almost anywhere. It reminds me of my blimp—yes, it takes up a lot of real estate and yet it can kinda go anywhere.

The below artist, Jennifer Urquhart, lent so many pieces for the house that were simple, but so unique and brought in a younger, more Portland, Oregon, vibe. The farmscape here is so sweet and quiet. This one was a HUGE hit with my brother and he plans on buying this one well as another of hers.

That green velvet antique chair is from Rejuvenation’s antique section and if I needed it, I would absolutely buy this for myself. It’s so beautiful, classic and extremely comfortable. It’s making me want to reupholster my chaise lounge (which is falling apart) in this green velvet. This chair is still available, by the way (we are returning it today).

There is very, very little I would change about this room. Honestly, perhaps only one thing and that’s that I want to stretch the sofa to be one foot longer. That’s it. We don’t say that very often and I suppose it’s a credit to my design and styling team (Brady, Emily B, Priscilla, Julie, Velinda) and some of these amazing companies, brands, makers and artists whose work took this room to the next level.

Obviously, an epic Get the Look is in order and don’t worry, we are already working on the budget version of this room which is looking pretty darn great, too (market master Jess is on the hunt).

Design and styling by Emily Henderson and Brady Tolbert (and team). JP Macy of Sierra Custom Homes (who I seriously can’t say enough good things about) was the General Contractor, and Annie Usher and the architect.

Love it! Now I’m going to be “that person” that asks about the one thing you didn’t link. Where is that weird sculptural wood piece on the floor next the fireplace in some of the first photos from!? I want!

Beautiful room! The piece of art that most catches my eye is propped on the #25 credenza, just to the right of the Lelani table lamp and behind the “Tiny Stacking House” and “Century” pieces. Any chance you have a link for that one?

As always, the space is beautiful. I have a question about the size of the area rug. In other posts, you talk about how important it is for the rug to be large enough for all the furniture legs to be on the rug, but that isn’t the case in this room. Was this a result of working with what was available in the short time frame or an intentional choice we might consider when purchasing rugs for our own spaces? Thanks so much!

Our rule is definitely not that all the legs have to be on, or else the rug would be massive and potentially even too big (and when you have gorgeous flooring you might want to show it off). We just like it to be consistent – so that the all the front legs (for instance) are on. You don’t want a sofa to be completely on and the two chairs totally off. Generally the 1/2 on 1/2 off is a good combo.

Any suggestion on how to prevent furniture from sliding in this scenario? Our couch has wooden legs, front legs are on the couch and back legs are on the hardwoods. Is there some kind of rubber feet, or something similar you would recommend to keep them in place?

Oh my, it’s glorious! So peaceful and elegant! Those leather chairs!
This is such a treat for a Friday – can’t wait to read the whole run-down tonight.
Bravo team, you should be real proud of yourselves – cannot wait to see the rest of the house!

That is GORGEOUS, and I specifically love that couch… when the kids are old enough to not entirely wreck the couches (babies and toddlers = washable slipcovers for sanitation alone…) we’re getting … basically THAT. Goooorgeous.

Can I ask about the floors? I don’t know if it’s been mentioned on another post and I missed it, but why replacing them entirely? It seems from the pictures that minor refinishing would have done it – were they in worst shape than the pics show?

Beautiful – I love everything! This makes me realize one thing I don’t like about the “I design – you decide” series – while I appreciate learning about the thinking behind decisions and being able to see options — I think the results are more eye-popping if we don’t see the sausage being made.

This room is absolutely beautiful. I have been searching for exactly that couch on the internet and now you have found it for me — thank you! Its stunning. Can you tell me if its comfortable to sit on? Thank you so much. I love your work.

This room is stupendous and is EXACTLY why I read this blog. The design is adult & elegant without being precious. Those chairs are my dream chairs for sure, true sculptures, and there are so many other things to love in this room. So, so many. The windows, the lighting, the rug, the mix of old and new — and the art. You all really have a way with art. I wouldn’t change a thing.

I could die happy in this room. I love love love the mix of black, gold, and blue with a pop of green. My only critique is the placement of the green chair as you know it will slide around when you sit on it since it’s not fully on the carpet! But we’ll done guys on such a beautiful inspiring room!

Daaaang girl. I can definitely see how it’s like your current living room (in part due to layout/rug) but idealized with no kids lol. Super, super pretty. I love no treatments on the bay window, those leather sling chairs are amazing, the styling and choices are impeccable, fantastic work with the sconces, and it looks phenomenal overall. Only thing I noticed was that the side and coffee tables mostly seem to be a little too far to reach when you are seatedJulie and want to put your drink down on a handy surface. For real living instead of photo shoots ya know!

Can I just say, I love your transparency. I would never have known that the windows were a mistake, but you own it. I think it’s so, so, so valuable to have an influencer such as yourself highlight something that you would have done differently had you caught it (see also: the exposed gas line at the mountain house). It completely humanizes you and your team and I believe makes you all the more relatable even when furnishing a show-piece house “costs” $200k. These mistakes do nothing but add to your designs and the charm of the final product. For me personally, it some how alleviates stress around mistakes that I make in my day-to-day not just in designing my own home, but across my job/family/volunteer committees/etc….you are showcasing how something going wrong can turn out to be so much better. PS – I’m a fan of leaving the gas line exposed and embracing the imperfection of the process.

Those windows! I feel like I need to sell everything I own and build a new house just to create the same “mistake”. This room is stunning. I LOVE your ability to use vintage, high-end, and big box brands (buying that stuctube floor lamp right now) to make such beautiful spaces. You and your team really knocked it out of the park with this one. I’m ridiculously excited to see the rest of the home!

I love everything in this room, it’s a perfect mix of new and vintage, classic with a twist. In my fantasies i’m moving to Portland and buying this house fully furnished! Can’t wait to see the rest of the reveals.

Btw, i think your estimate of $200K to furnish a 5000 sq ft house with this level of decor is way low!

Hi there! The wall color is Pure White by Sherwin-Williams, the flooring is from Hallmark Floors and the side table is from Room and Board. You can get all the links in the Get The Look at the end of the post:) Glad you love the room xx Jess

LOVE. All of it. You didn’t mention them, but the table lamps are awesome. One of my favorite styles. I think it’s the MOMA shop that has a version that I’ve been lusting after for ages. Just too spendy. Sigh.

And the windows to the floor? My absolutely favoritest (????) architectural detail in the room.

I absolutely love this living room! I have just begun the research process to redo my own living room. I know it appears that the walls, molding, and ceiling are all the same color; i just wanted to verify. Also, what color is it? I want to go “white” but there are soooo many out there (some not even really being white at all).

Hi! The paint color is Pure White by Sherwin-Williams. It’s so pretty. However Emily always recommends painting large swatches on a piece of paper or directly on the wall to see how the color will look in your space as the light changes throughout the day. Good luck xx

When I saw the email notification, I thought, ya ya, already seen the Portland house. Not gonna look, but of course I looked……and I am DYING. Blah blah, so over mid century crazy thinking 💭 THIS IS THE BEST CURATED DESIGN THAT I HAVE SEEN IN A LONG TIME. I am so in love, especially the windows to the floor, which the blinds disguise balance I’m guessing. Blinds=amazing. Anyway, I’m ranting, my head is spinning from the visual joy. Wow

This is beautiful, Emily. I have always loved your style. I do have a question regarding the coffee table placement. What would be the ideal amount of space from the coffee table to the sofa/chairs? Should you be able to reach the table without completely getting up from being seated?

Emily, what a beautiful, welcoming space I love it. You really hit it out of the ball park with the windows and those roman shades are gorgeous! The styling is simply impeccable! Kudos to you and your team.
I don’t love the step-down to the living room but I do love the way that you styled the different rooms to create a seamless transition between the spaces. We are in the process of buying a home and it has a step-down to the family room. I have been looking at the different options and I know how complicated it is to change it. If we raise the floor then the ceiling is too low and it is an addition so raising the ceiling would be extremely costly and not an option. I also looked into doing a wood ceiling but the room is HUGE (over 600 sq. ft.) and it is also a budget breaker. We may have to keep the step down and get creative with the decorating instead. I could turn it into a ballroom except we don’t dance LOL.

I’ve been feeling very ‘meh’ about everything I’ve been seeing on blogs and Instagram lately…until you started showing peeks of this house. I cannot tell you how IN LOVE I am with it. I can’t get enough! All the Schoolhouse and Rejuvenation you’ve used has me so freaking excited. I can’t wait to see the rest of the reveals!!! Also, you guys rock for including the moulding links! That stuff gets forgotten all too often.
Oh, and I had to buy the chair version of the Schoolhouse sofa after seeing this ;).

This space is really beautiful with some killer pieces (those timber and leather sling chairs!). It makes me feel better about the shortcomings of my own home that it took about six of you professional designers/stylists to create this space. Also you have the ability and flexibility to try pieces and change if not suitable. For me living in a regional area, if I order a piece of furniture and it comes (often although not always) from overseas, even if it is not quite right I just have to learn to live with it. I do feel some of your designs are becoming almost too “perfect” but I have been following you since you created those eclectic and sometimes weird but fun interiors on the HGTV programme “Secrets of a Stylist”. Although our styles are very different you have been very influential in how I approach design in my own home.

Who bought the house? Did they purchase some of the furniture and accessories? Who is the lucky owner?!!!! Also, check out Ina Garten’s Spanish Pea Soup with crispy ham for souptember. It’s a family favorite around here.

This room is perfection. Question – what’s on the backside of the Roman shades? How do they look from outside the house? I spent a (for me) fortune on pottery barn Roman shades that I do love from living room but you can see the inner workings of them from outside the house, which bugs me.

This is my dream living room, I wouldn’t change a thing! It’s incredible, so much beauty to look at and yet it is totally inviting and not pretentious.
Also, I would LOVE a whole post on all the art in the house, it really has caught my eye on instagram stories and makes such an impact.
Congratulations again for completing that stunner of a project and thanks for sharing your designs with us!

Wow what a beautiful space! I have been following along with both projects and am soo excited the reveals are finally starting to happen for this amazing house! I am actually looking into these exact floors for a project of a similar size and have never worked with an oil-finished flooring before. I am curious what the maintenance is like for the homeowner. They are stunning and definitely hard to beat once you start comparing them to other options. Any info would be much appreciated!

Wait wait wait. Hold. The. Phone. What is that table in the hallway by the stairs that I can see in the background?? I realize this is not the focus of this post (and ps, love the room. I think I like the original couch better but I have a tendency to get stuck on individual items not be able to see the whole picture which is clearly a a skill you have mastered). But also, I’m in love with that table. I know that it’s pathological to be in love with innatimate objects but the heart wants what it wants…

Hi Emily – I live on the same street as the Portland house. Wondering if there are any additional sources for local art that you didnt mention? I’m interested in purchasing art for my home. Thanks for any tips!

It inspires a question for the blog, too—what are the rules about combining multiple items in the same finish (in this case leather, the sofa and the two sculptural chairs) so you don’t get “finish overwhelm” in the end? It obviously works here and looks great, but I feel like I’ve never found a way to pull it off and I think I’ve heard you caution against too many all soft or all hard finishes in upholstered goods before. Basically I want you to find me a way to have two leather chairs along with my leather couch, haha, but my home isn’t as amazing or spacious or luxe or well-lit as this one so I realize it’s not that simple. Anyway, I’d adore rules about how to balance this kind of thing in our own spaces. Thanks and amazing work, team EHD!

The following time I learn a weblog, I hope that it doesnt disappoint me as a lot as this one. I imply, I know it was my choice to read, but I really thought youd have something fascinating to say. All I hear is a bunch of whining about one thing that you can repair in case you werent too busy searching for attention.

Such a gorgeous space and home, Emily!! I absolutely loved watching you transform this space and LOVE how it all turned out. And those windows are to die for! Now did you paint the walls and trim all the same shade of SW? Would love to know what you all did with this and how you typically handle trim when walls are white!

Hello!

Emily is a stylist, author and T.V. host with a strong commitment to vintage inspired approachable home style for every single person. Perfection is boring; Let’s get weird. learn more

Interior Design Blog by Emily Henderson

I started this interior design blog in 2010 as a journal of my style and home projects with the belief that design should be approachable, informational and accessible no matter what budget.

As a home style expert who has a strong commitment to peeling back the intimidating layers of the world of home decor, and showing how every person can have a beautiful home that represents their personality, no matter what the budget.

After styling for magazines and catalogues for years, I started my own interior design blog, won HGTV Design Star, and have gone on to host my own hit TV show Secrets from a Stylist, Author the book STYLED, and create the design firm Emily Henderson Design.

My motto has always been to write and publish on my blog what I personally want to read about.